Can not log into OS X

Yea you screwed up.

rEFIt hasn't been updated in ages, it's a EFI based program and is incompatible with your 10.7 operating system.

the way it works is it loads a EFI program into the EFI folder and then one reboot it's loaded into the hidden EFI partition on the boot drive and the second reboot loaded into memory so you can use it.

The solution is to remove the EFI folder and reboot twice so it uses a older version of the EFI folder, but you can't log in to do that.

the only options are Macintosh HD and Recovery (which I'm using now.)

Then simply #18 Resinstall Just OS X right there from Recovery HD

• Step by Step to fix your Mac

Lion will resinstall right over itself and should give you a clean EFI folder again, reboot twice and it should be fine.

A few third party programs may have to be reinstalled, that's to be expected.

Your files and programs will not be touched, just OS X is replaced.

BTW, don't install Linux unless your a well seasoned geek, use a virtual machine program like so to run Linux, it's much safer.

Want to try Linux?, read this

gnruble wrote:

Thanks for the tips - I actually just got done removing the EFI folder from the single user login terminal, haven't rebooted twice yet, but hopefully it fixed it.

You have to remove the most recent one so it uses the older one.

I wanted to get a native Ubuntu install on here as I've always been a Linux guy (got the MacBook for Logic Pro). Just didn't realize how different Apple products actually are.

Interest in Linux on a Mac dropped off substantially when 10.7 was announced as the Mac App Store was viewed that Apple is closing up it's operating system, isn't allowing open source GPL licensed software on MAS because all programs there must be copy protected. Also the ecomony had a serious effect as well.

Also about that time Ubuntu did it's frigging Unity only number so there was a mass migration to Linux Mint for a customizable desktop. Ubuntu housed a lot of the drivers for Mac's, until about Late 2010 model and then it just stopped.

If you get Linux installed on a Mac, the problem is now getting hard ware drivers and software to talk to the hardware to stop the fans from defaulting to "turbo mode"

Sure older Mac models one can get the software, but the more recent Mac's needs a program geek to be willing to get these drivers and make them public so others can use them.

The material you were reading to install Linux on a Mac was likely for Late 2010 Mac's with 10.6 and earlier, since it does involve the rEFIt boot menu program.

Until you get your ducks in a row for a clean shot and can hold the option key and select Linux to boot into, like BootcCamp partition, I'd still advise a VM for your sole Mac. Tinker on another Mac until you get to learn more about it as it's not a generic PC. There is a EFI, GUID and various firmwares Apple is always messing around with.

You'll get it to work for some time and Apple goes and blows things up in your face.

OS X is constantly changing, it's hard to get stability with a Mac. 10.8 is being released in a few months, that can brick your custom install.

However with a VM, it's just a file. Apple don't give a rats behind about Linux, only supports Win 7 as a switcher tool.

I removed the EFI folder and rebooted like five times, and I still can't see my Boot Camp partition or even log in to OS X.

Like I said, you likely need to remove the latest EFI folder version.

How one can determine that is unknown from the command line, however I can see mine using Easy Find in OS X .

But you can't boot into OS X and you can't reinstall it. So your screwed.

When I tried to reinstall OS X, it kept giving me this error:

An error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running this application again.

I don't know what could have happened. It's ridiculous.

Hey you borked your EFI, what do you expect. 🙂

Since you can boot into Recovery, that means you can format a blank external drive (GUID OS X Extended Journaled) and install OS X onto it.

Then reboot holding the option key down (Startup Manager) to boot off the external drive, and then grab files off the internal drive, likely out of Windows partition too as the Mac will read the NTFS format of Windows, just not write.

• Create a data recovery, undelete boot drive

(If you download WinClone from MacUpdate.com, you can clone your Windows BootCamp to another drive for later restoring.)

Download the free Carbon Copy Cloner, that's what your going to use to clone your external OS X drive to the internal after your done erasing the ENTIRE internal drive from the booted external to catch the hidden borked EFI partition using Disk Utility on the external drive.

Your Mac's parittion scheme is setup as follows.

EFI (hidden)

OS X

Bootcamp

Recovery (hidden)

Good thing about Carbon Copy Cloner is it will clone the hidden Lion Recovery partition along with the EFI partition, that's why the clone will boot.

Now erase the entire internal drive by selecting the drive makers name and size, Erase > Select the next to last right handed option for basic security erase and let it complete, it will take a few hours.

Once done, use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the external drive to the internal one.

Reboot holding the Option key down and select the internal drive to boot from, set it as the Startup in System Preferences.

You'll have to set things all up again, install programs and so forth, but at least you'll have your files. Remake BootCamp and run Winclone to clone that back on.

You REALLY got yourself into a pickle. That's why I wrote that User Tip about Linux. 🙂

I timed out and thus my edits are as follows.

Good thing about Carbon Copy Cloner is it will clone the hidden Lion Recovery partition along with the EFI partition, that's why the clone will boot.

Now erase the entire internal drive by using Disk Utiilty and selecting the drive makers name and size on the far left

Click Erase and select the security option next to last on the right for basic security erase and let it complete, it will take a few hours. This is called a Zero erase and it's a hack to map off any failing sectors on the hard drive that could cause problems later.

Once done, use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the external drive to the internal one.

Reboot holding the Option key down and select the internal drive to boot from, set it as the Startup in System Preferences.

You'll have to set things all up again, install programs and so forth, but at least you'll have your files. Remake BootCamp and run Winclone to clone that back on.

One thing to remmeber, when setitng up a user account, make sure to use the same name as you were using when on the original boot drive, this way when you drop your files into your new Music, Documents, Pictures and Movies folders from the other, any program data path will be preserved to your other files, expecially for iTunes playlists also there shouldn't be any permissions issues, if there are then just set the permissions on the files to yourself using the Finder > Get Info.

Good Luck. 🙂

There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to fully boot. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.

1. Boot from your recovery partition (10.7 or later), a local Time Machine backup volume (10.7.2 or later), or your installation disc (10.6.8 or earlier.) Launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in the support article linked below, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”

How to back up and restore your files

2. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode by holding down the key combination command-T at the startup chime. Connect the two Macs with a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable. The internal drive of the machine running in target mode will mount as an external drive on the other machine. Copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.

How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode

3. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.

The Linux installer corrupted your partition table, as usual. After backing up all data, repartition the drive. Obviously you'll need to boot from another device in order to do that.